She has to be monstrously callous in order not to understand the anguish that building a mosque upon Ground Zero is causing the families of the victims of the 9/11 terrorist attack against the United States. Accordingly, the very idea that Speaker Nancy Pelosi thinks that there should be an investigation of groups who oppose a mosque upon Ground Zero is utterly stupefying and reveals a callousness that can only be characterized as a side of the face of evil itself.
The issue, of course, is not whether Muslims have right to build a mosque or to practice Islam. Of course, they do. But the fact that someone has a right to do something does not settle entirely settle matters; for it can very well be true that a person should not do what she or he unquestionably has a right to do.
For example, suppose that you borrowed my HD-television from me and you left me a notarized statement promising to return it to me on the 5th October by 5 p.m. However, your child was murdered on the 4th of October. Needless to say, your returning my television to me is likely to be the very last thing on your mind. And I would have to be an absolute bastard not to grasp that. And if I should come to your home asking you for my HD-television, you would clearly take my doing so to be an utterly morbid display of indifference to the loss of your child that you have just suffered. And if I called law enforcement in order to force you to comply with your agreement, per the notarized document bearing your signature, to return the television, it would surely be appropriate for you to characterize my behavior as an instance of evil. This would be a just characterization of me, although I am acting within my rights.
Well, when a person of Nancy Pelosi’s stature cannot see the obvious issue of the anguish of the families who lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attack, and so the reason why they are opposed to having a mosque at Ground Zero, she can only be rightly characterized as a moral monster.
And the characterization of her as a moral monster holds all the more so in view of the fact that she is maintaining that groups who oppose the mosque at Ground Zero should be subject to investigation.
While no criminal investigation is in order, certainly something akin to a moral court is in order. She needs to be judged as having made a morally bankrupt assessment. Either her stance was a complete lapse of judgment or it issues from a moral depravity that makes unfit to be a member of the United States Congress.
For what it is worth, one can be opposed to there being a mosque at Ground Zero and not at all have deep biases against Muslims. Indeed, precisely what I would hope is that any morally upright Muslim would grasp the reason why there is fundamental opposition to a mosque being built at Ground Zero. And, in particular, I hope that any morally upright Muslim would grasp that one could have that angst without harboring any ill-will towards Muslims.
For Muslims to insist upon building a mosque at Ground Zero in the face of the enormous angst that doing so would cause is for Muslim to be brutally insensitive to the reality of just how it is that Ground Zero came about.
Ground Zero is not the outcome of a natural disaster or some horrendous human error. Ground Zero is the consequence of a most willful and deliberate act committed by some Muslims in the name of Allah. Nothing will change that reality. What is more, while it is true that many Muslims did not commit the terrorist act committed against the United States, what we know is that many rejoiced in the fact that such a successful terrorist act had been committed against America.
There is, then, a very real respect in which Ground Zero is rightly understood as hallow ground on the order of the grounds of Auschwitz. And one has to ask just how it is that the Speaker of the House, Ms. Nancy Pelosi, is unable to comprehend this ever so simple moral reality. In a like manner, one has to ask: Why is it that Muslims do not comprehend this simple reality?
For a people who can get ever so worked up over a comic cartoon caricature of Mohammed, surely they can grasp what it means for Ground Zero to have extraordinary symbolic significance for those who have lost their loved ones owing to the terrorist attack committed against the United States.
None of this requires denying that Islam is a peaceful religion or even debating that matter. For the assessment that Islam is a peaceful religion will not change the reality of the terrorist attack that was committed in the name of Islam. What is more, the pursuit of peace can just as easily take place in a mosque that is adjacent to Ground Zero as it can in a mosque that is built upon Ground Zero.
Coming back to Speaker Nancy Pelosi, there can be little doubt in my mind that she is a morally depraved person. Here is why. She might very have reasons—perhaps even good reasons—why having a mosque built on Ground Zero would be a good thing. But none of that should be an impediment to her understanding why people stand in opposition to that. But it is the next step on her part that truly reveals the morally vapid nature of her character; for she has suggested that those who oppose building a mosque at Ground Zero need to be investigated as if the very nature of the opposition must surely stem from some wicked and fulsome ideology. Well, only someone who is morally depraved could think that. And one such person is currently Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States of America, namely Ms. Nancy Pelosi. I have another name for her: Traitor!
I have to echo the comment of the your previous post’s response: Nancy Pelosi’s political posturing is an irrelevant side issue to the much more important debate about the Mosque. Your post inaccurately equates “Muslims” with the “Mosque.” It would be more accurate to say that a group of progressive Muslims want to build an Islamic cultural and religious center that represents the antithesis of 911 terrorists. This is extremely important because there has not been a strong Muslim voice of pro-modernization & anti-terrorism in the world.
I am surprised you haven’t spoken to this MUCH more important issue.
Nancy Pelosi believes there should be transparency concerning the funding of the opposition to the Park51 project in conjunction with transparency concerning the funding of the project itself. Is it really treason to suggest if one side should be transparent, than the other side should as well?
Let’s take a look at the two sides:
The project is being lead by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a long-time and well respected leader in New York City’s religious community. He has worked in the U.S. State department under both the Bush and Obama Administrations as an American envoy to help build bridges with the Muslim world. He has repeatedly denounced Islamic extremism and violent jihad-ism. Also, the Park51 project has support from NYC Christian and Jewish leaders (many were consulted during the planning of the project) and Mayor Bloomberg.
The anti-Park51 movement is lead by Pamela Geller, the blogger who ignited the controversy. Ms. Geller leads the group Stop Islamization of America, and she consistently makes radical statements about the loyalty of anyone who supports the American Muslim community, including our President. Ms. Geller has said Obama “is a third worlder and a coward” who’s “appeas[ing] his Islamic overlords,” and that Obama “wants jihad to win. That’s what he is doing.” Additionally, she has said Liberal Jews are “lost souls,” and “self-hating wretches.” (http://mediamatters.org/research/201007140035)
Let me ask you, Professor, if a group existed called Stop Jewification of America, and it was working to prevent the construction of a Jewish cultural center as well as demanding to know who was funding the project, would it be wrong to want to know who was behind this organization? Would it make you a traitor?
I guess I’m a traitor.
One other point. You erroneously claim the Park51 project is being built “upon Ground Zero.” Maybe this is confusing to those who are not familiar with Downtown Manhattan, but the site of the project is not on Ground Zero. It is two blocks away from the northeast corner of the World Trade Center border and 4 blocks from the footprint of the closest tower. In fact, those visiting would likely never see Park51 unless they journeyed down a side street near the World Trade Center site. Because of tall buildings, the site would not be visible to anyone paying their respects at the planned 9/11 Memorial.
Here is a sample of things as close or closer to Ground Zero than the Park51 site: a McDonald’s, a Burger King, an Off Track Betting parlor, a few bars, a strip club, and two churches (St. Paul’s Chapel and the Church of St. Peter). These areas (aside from the churches) are not considered hallowed ground by most New Yorkers.
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